Title : The Power of History: The Use of Colonial History to Support Efforts on the
U.S. Home Front during World War II (1942-1943)
Prepared by: Mark S. Nemecek, Fox Lane High School, Bedford, NY
Introduction to Lesson Plan :
Historical Context and Introduction:
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. used philanthropy to start the renovation in 1928 of one of America’s oldest and best preserved colonial town- Williamsburg. It was a renovation that became a passion for both himself and his son John D. Rockefeller 3rd (JDR 3rd).
For both men, renovating Colonial Williamsburg ensured that Americans could truly appreciate the nation’s beginnings and understand how instrumental the colonial experience was to our continuing democratic experiment. JDR 3rd hoped that Colonial
Williamsburg would become a center to help citizens understand what an American truly was. His dream for Colonial Williamsburg was that a visit would help Americans develop an understanding and appreciation of eighteenth-century concepts of democracy that could be applied to the nation’s contemporary problems.
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With the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the nation entered World War II. For
JDR 3rd, it was an opportunity for the private sector to support the public war effort by reminding citizens and soldiers of the values from America’s colonial past. Colonial
Williamsburg from 1942 to1943 was to become a wartime education center for the nation, offering visitors an exciting and engaging way to contrast early American struggles with democracy to the contemporary challenges presented by totalitarian regimes.
1
Anders Greenspan. Creating Colonial Williamsburg (Washington DC, 2002), 9-15.
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Although JDR 3rd realized the tremendous potential of using Williamsburg and colonial history to support the war effort, he also recognized that physical access to the site posed a considerable obstacle. Residents living nearby could easily visit as could soldiers at nearby training facilities in Virginia (who were required to visit Williamsburg as part of their wartime training), but unfortunately, an actual visit to Colonial
Williamsburg was difficult for the typical American. JDR 3rd understood that to broaden the audience and truly make Williamsburg part of the national war effort, he needed to channel its democratic ideals into something the entire nation could experience.
Knowing that radio was the form of mass media most accessible to the average citizen,
JDR 3rd sponsored and supported a series of radio programs to educate Americans about their past, suggesting that the values for which America was fighting in World War II mirrored the values held by earlier generations of Americans dating back to colonial times and the American Revolution. The radio broadcasts would be privately funded, but
JDR 3rd wanted to persuade the U.S. military to officially endorse them. This endorsement would both legitimize the programs in the eyes of the American people and also help unify the country behind the war effort.
The following lesson seeks to replicate some of JDR 3rd’s efforts to use colonial history to influence public opinion on the home front during World War II. It will challenge students to consider the ways in which past history could be used to support a contemporary cause. The lesson also hopes to have students understand the power and impact of mass media on citizens during times of war. Overall, the lesson encourages students to make connections between different times of U.S. history and also allow students with different learning styles to be engaged in the process.
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Course Level:
The course level most appropriate for this lesson:
United States History 11 th
Grade
Advanced Placement US History
Fit in NY State Curriculum
This lesson is best suited in a unit on early American involvement in World War II, particularly efforts on the home front to support the war.
The Lesson
Essential Questions:
1.
How was colonial history used to support efforts on the U.S. home front during
World War II?
2.
Was colonial history used legitimately to help unify the U.S. nation behind the war effort during World War II?
3.
How was the media, particularly the radio and posters, used during World War II to educate and gain support of the American people?
4.
Is colonial history still relevant to America today?
Student Objectives:
1.
Students will role play employees of a public relations firm working for JDR 3rd and create a portfolio persuading the U.S. War Department to use colonial history to support war efforts.
2.
Students will evaluate a variety of primary source materials-- correspondence, speeches, posters.
3.
Students will create their own applications of colonial history to circumstances in
World War II.
4.
Students will participate in a Socratic seminar reflecting on what they have learned through the project.
Connection to National History Standards
( http://nchs.ucla.edu/standards/us-standards5-12.html
)
Era 2: Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
Standard 2A: Students are reminded to consider the roots of representative government in places like Colonial Williamsburg.
Standard 2B: Concepts of religious freedom evolution in early colonies.
Standard 3B: Guarantees of the Bill of Rights
Era 3: Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820)
Standard 1B: Students are asked to consider the principles that America was fighting for in WWII, particularly those mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.
Era 8: The Great Depression and WWII (1929-1945).
Standard 3C: Character of effects of the war on the US home front
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Historical Thinking Standards
Standard 1, Chronological Thinking: The unit likewise integrates a number of Historical
Thinking Standards including: understanding the chronology of U.S. history from the
Colonial Period through WWII and the evolution of democratic ideas and principles over time during this period. Students are challenged to identify the relationship or historical continuity between these two eras and how one era impacted the other.
Connection to New York State Social Studies Standards
( http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/socstands/soc11.html
)
Standard 1: History of the United States and New York: use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.
Key Idea 1: The study of New York State and United States history requires an analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions .
Performance Indicators: Students will analyze the development of American culture, explaining how ideas, values, beliefs, and traditions have changed over time and how they unite all Americans
Time Suggestions for Lesson
This lesson can take approximately 5-7 classes but can be easily adjusted to fit the needs of each teacher. All background knowledge on the American history through the entrance into World War II should have been completed prior to introduction of this assignment.
Procedure:
Day 1: Introduction to Assignment
1.
Motivation: Introduce the posters used to support World War II on the American
home front. Discuss how past history is being used to support this cause.
Discuss the connection between all three pictures. Answers should indicate that all the images are from early American history (colonial past and American
Revolution) Discuss whether this poster campaign is legitimately (properly) using past history. Why or why not?
2.
Introduce students to the role play. Students will be working in teams of 3-4 students on an assignment surrounding the use of colonial history to support the war on the U.S. home front during World War II. Review major events from U.S. history during the following periods: Colonial, Revolutionary and Ratification of the Constitution.
3.
Distribute and review Student Handout A. (Note: Teachers must decide which activities will be used before distributing this handout to students ). Remind them that they will be judged both for their efforts as a group and as individuals so it is important that each group member contribute fully and equally to the finished portfolio. Review the objectives of the assignment and how they will be graded in the provided Rubric.
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4.
Homework: Begin Part I- Research with Student Handout B . Students begin research by reading and/or listening to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Four
Freedoms Speech” and answer the questions that follow the excerpt. Students can listen to an excerpt of the speech available at the following link to the U.S.
National Archives:
Four Freedoms Speech Audio Excerpt http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/four_freedoms/four_freedo ms.html
Teachers who wish to use more of the speech or listen to the full speech can go to the following links:
Full audio of speech available at: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/mp3clips/politicalspeeches/fdrfourfreedoms.mp3
(Version from University of Virginia site)
Full text of the speech available at: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/4free.html
Day 2: Team Research Phase -FDR’s Four Freedoms Speech and Norman
Rockwell’s Paintings
1.
Review student responses to Student Handout B on the “Four Freedoms
Speech.” Discuss what the President was saying about the war, focusing on the values the allies were fighting to preserve. Especially interesting would be a discussion on how Roosevelt’s message connected with colonial history.
Similar problems faced?
2.
Distribute Student Handout C t o student teams and review. Student teams will analyze Norman Rockwell’s paintings illustrating the Four Freedoms. Have the teams view each illustration at “learning stations” and answer questions. At each station will be a color copy of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms paintings. Note: Teacher can also introduce paintings by providing copies without the headlines and ask students to try to identify which painting corresponds with each of the Four Freedoms. After students have justified their answers, analysis of the paintings can begin.
3.
Teacher Background: The first Freedom painting published was “Freedom of
Speech,” which appeared in the February 20, 1943. The series continued with
“Freedom to Worship” on February 27, 1943. Next, “Freedom from Want” appeared on March 6, 1943 and “Freedom from Fear” on March 13, 1943. In an unprecedented effort the U.S. government teamed with The Saturday Evening
Post on a national campaign called the Four Freedoms Bond Show which raised
Americans’ sense of patriotism and helped illustrate America’s aims in the war.
The paintings went on tour in sixteen America cities and were reproduced as posters. An estimated 1.2 million Americans saw the exhibit and contributed over $133 million in war bonds to support the war effort. Almost every
American had heard of, if not seen, the images Rockwell had connected to
FDR’s “Four Freedoms.”
4.
Homework: If Students cannot complete Student Handout C in class, they can complete it at home using the National Archives website:
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http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/four_freedoms/four_fr eedoms.html
.
Day 3: Radio Program Correspondence from JDR 3rd Files
1.
Remind students of the role play - that they have been hired by JDR 3rd and
Colonial Williamsburg, Inc to inform the War Department of a proposal to create a radio program called “Fight for Freedom” Instruct them that their employers want to make use of the power of radio as a way to apply American colonial history to the war effort.
2.
Inform students to get into their assigned teams and provide each team with a folder. Each folder should contain one copy of Documents 1-5 (letters from
JDR 3rd’s personal files on the creation of a radio program to support the war effort). In groups, students examine and answer questions ( Student Handout D ) for each document.
3.
Remind students to analyze each document carefully because their Persuasive
Letter to the War Department depends on their knowing why a radio broadcast focusing on early American history is needed at the present time.
4.
For Homework: Ask each team member to review class notes and create a list of five American colonial history events that they might wish use in their radio program. Briefly explain how each of those events might connect to the
American war effort in WWII or FDR’s “Four Freedoms.” For students who are confused about what events are possible, prompt with examples such as Bacon’s
Rebellion, Articles of Confederation, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party,
Declaration of Independence. Also ask students to examine the model transcript that will help them formulate their radio broadcast ( Student Handout E ).
Days 4 & 5: Groupwork- Portfolio to the War Department
1.
Using homework assignments, students conference with their teams for 3 minutes to choose the top two colonial events that they would like to use in their broadcast. Teacher might want to make sure that the same events are not repeated by several different groups.
2.
Answer any questions about Student Handout E that students may have about how their transcript should look. Remind them that they must have an audio copy of the finished broadcast as well as a typed version for the War Department.
Optional: Student groups may have the option of performing their radio broadcast live in front class instead of taped version.
3.
For the remainder of days 4 & 5, allow students time to begin complete the tasks assigned: Persuasive letter, Radio Broadcast and “Four Freedoms” poster.
Remind students of the deadline for submission of all materials.
4.
Homework: Students should continue to work on Portfolio.
Day 6: Presentation of Radio Broadcasts- 5 minutes with FDR
1.
Student teams present their five minute radio broadcast either taped or live.
Students can also discuss the poster they made -- the colonial events depicted and how they support the war effort.
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2.
Students in the audience take notes on each presentation. These note will be used either in the Socratic seminar or reflection paper.
3.
Homework: Prepare for Socratic Seminar or complete first draft of reflection paper. Due date for final reflection paper to be determined by teacher. Teacher may want to have students attach notes from presentations to last page of reflection paper.
Day 7: Culmination of Project: Either Socratic Seminar or Submission of Reflection
Paper
1.
For both activities, teacher should refer to questions listed on Student Handout
A and decide which question(s) should be the focus of the activity.
2.
The following directions could be used for the Socratic seminar.
•
Introduce that in a Socratic Seminar the responsibility of the teacher is to monitor the discussion and pose questions when necessary (encourage students to question one another) to keep conversation moving. Also remind students that the idea is to let all students participate in the seminar, so my suggestion is to allow no one to participate twice unless all students have participated at least once.
•
As teacher you should check off in your grade book those who participate and listen to the quality of the student participation. Students can be graded for participation in the seminar on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a student who strongly supports their ideas with evidence from the project.
•
Remind students that you are looking for supported oral response, not just
“yes” or “I agree with John” answers. The more you support your ideas and positively contribute to the seminar the higher grade for participation you receive. By encouraging student to participate once, the hope is to encourage students to think before they speak.
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Assessment
This lesson can be assessed using the attached rubric.
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-
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Suggestions for Further Readings/ Useful Links
Books :
Greenspan, Anders. Creating Colonial Williamsburg. Washington DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press, 2002. (Pgs.9-15)
Gonzales, Donald J. The Rockefellers at Williamsburg. Mclean, Virginia: EPM
Publications, Inc., 1991.
Harr, John Ensor and Peter J. Johnson. The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of
America’s Greatest Family .
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. (pgs. 487-501)
Chapter 25: Conflict at Williamsburg.
Kopper, Philip. Colonial Williamsburg. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc. Publishers,
1986.
Links:
Colonial Williamsburg Official Site http://www.history.org/
National Archives – Four Freedoms and WWII Propaganda http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/four_freedoms/four_freedoms.ht
ml
World War II posters http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/collections/wwii-posters
Excellent source for posters on the U.S. homefront during World War II.
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Courtesy Northwestern University Library
1943, US Dept. of Treasury http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/collections/wwii-posters
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Courtesy Northwestern University Library
1943, US Dept. of Treasury http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/collections/wwii-posters
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Courtesy Northwestern University Library
1942, US Dept. of Treasury http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/collections/wwii-posters
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Student Handout A
Background
The date is July, 1942 and the United States is seven months past the bombing of
Pearl Harbor and fully engaged in the fighting of World War II. You and your team have been hired by Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. and John D. Rockefeller 3rd to make a marketing campaign, including a radio program, to support the America war at home.
Your group will attempt to persuade the US government to provide funding or official support for your program. Your finished product will be sent to the War Department for observations and judgment.
Past history is often used to support causes. In this instance, the radio program will attempt to educate Americans of our national past, particularly of America’s
Colonial Period through the signing of the Constitution. Reminding and educating
Americans of the early struggle to develope a democracy and of the basic freedoms established when our nation was founded, would help the average citizen better understand why America was fighting in World War II. Your program will attempt to use events from the Colonial Period and connect the problems experienced to the world and the war today. Your team will examine correspondence from the Mr. Rockefeller’s personal papers and create an inspirational marketing campaign that will educate, inspire and unite the American people to support the war efforts and understand the pivotal nature of America’s fight. The broadcast will be named “The Fight for Freedom.”
Your Group’s Task:
Part I: Preparation and Background Research
1.
Listen to, read and analyze the speech by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s state of the union speech in January 1941 to understand what the President was saying about the war and what other democratic nations were fighting for. This speech known as the “Four Freedoms Speech.”
2.
Analyze Norman Rockwell’s paintings illustrating the Four Freedoms from 1943.
3.
Examine correspondence relating the radio program from the personal correspondence files of your boss, John D. Rockefeller 3rd, March-July 1942 to become informed of his vision and goals for the radio program and why the country needs such a program to win the war. Answer questions associated with each document.
4.
Research and identify two events from Colonial Period (in this activity defined as establishment of Colonies through approval of the Constitution)
5.
Complete portfolio to War Department (Letter, Radio Broadcast and Posters)
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Part II: Create a portfolio to be sent to the War Department will include:
1. Persuasive Letter to War Department from John D. Rockefeller 3rd and Colonial
Williamsburg, Inc. that:
•
Sells the idea that people in the country need to be educated of our Colonial past as part of the U.S. effort in World War II.
•
Explains 2 colonial events that connect to America’s present struggle in World
War II.
•
Shows the best way to achieve this goal is through a series of radio programs.
•
Sells the idea that this is a legitimate use our nation’s past history.
2. Radio Broadcast and Transcript: 3-5 minute tape recording or live broadcast in which students:
•
Create a sample radio broadcast for the War Department titled “America’s Fight to Freedom.” that focuses on one colonial event and show how it is connected to at least one of President Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms.”
•
Create a transcript of the broadcast (model is provided) to read.
3. Poster Supporting War Effort Using Colonial History in which students:
•
Analyze posters on the U.S. home front (1942-1943) from the U.S. Treasury
Department that used colonial history in support of the war effort.
•
Analyze the artwork of Norman Rockwell from 1943 and how he was inspired by
President Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech to create a series of paintings revolving around each of the Freedoms.
•
Create one new poster that will be used to support the Radio Williamsburg program using President Roosevelt’s themes. Poster should have a typed explanation at the bottom explaining to the War Department what is depicted and how the images connect to the Freedoms and parallel America’s struggle in World
War II.
4. Socratic Seminar or Reflection Paper on what has been learned through the project.
As a culminating activity, students can either participate in a Socratic Seminar which discusses this matter in an open forum, or students can be asked to submit a reflection paper which address one or several of the following questions:
1.
What is the appropriate use of history?
2.
Does the Rockefeller ideal of “touching the past to understand and inspire the present” hold true. Can past history be relevant to modern times? If so, how? If not, why?
3.
How can history be used properly or inappropriately to support a cause?
4.
Could President George HW Bush use Colonial History or the Four
Freedoms to support American war efforts either in the War on Terror or
Iraq War? Explain your answer fully.
5.
What have you learned about the power of the media during times of war? Was JDR 3rd using media in an appropriate way?
6.
What have you learned though this activity?
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Student Handout B
Directions: Read the following excerpt from a speech made by President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt to Congress on January 6, 1941. This address to Congress later became known as his “Four Freedoms” speech. FDR attempted to persuade the nation not only of the necessity of war but, more importantly, the ideological aims of the conflict. He appealed to all Americans belief about freedom and the price that our nation has paid in the past to ensure democracy survives. Please listen to an excerpt of the speech at the following web address: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/four_freedoms/four_freedoms.html
Excerpt from Speech of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Congress, Jan 6, 1941:
“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want -- which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear -- which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
To that new order we oppose the greater conception -- the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history, we have been engaged in change -- in a perpetual peaceful revolution -- a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions -- without the concentration camp or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.”
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Answer the following questions based upon the document:
1.
What are the Four Freedoms that FDR thinks are essential? What phrase does he repeat after each freedom? Why do you think he does this?
2.
What does Roosevelt mean when he states that American history is a “perpetual
(ongoing) peaceful revolution”? How is FDR attempting to connect America’s effort to past American history? Is this connection legitimate?
3.
How do you think the speech impacted the American people? How do you think the people of the world reacted?
4.
Is FDR’s speech propaganda? Why or why not?
5.
Is FDR’s speech still relevant in the modern day? Why or why not?
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Student Handout C
Background: FDR’s “Four Freedoms” were depicted in paintings by Norman Rockwell, the Saturday Evening Post's chief cover artist in 1943. At the time this magazine was one of the most popular in America. In an effort that never had happened before, the government teamed with the Saturday Evening Post on a national campaign called the
Four Freedoms Bond Show which raised Americans’ sense of patriotism and helped illustrate America’s aims in the war. The paintings went on tour in sixteen America cities and were reproduced in posters. An estimated 1.2 million Americans saw the exhibit and raised over $133 million in war bonds to support the war effort. Almost every American had heard of, if not seen the image that Rockwell had paired with FDR’s Four Freedoms.
The following asks you to analyze the paintings and to connect their ideals to US
Colonial history and values, particularly considering those which led to the founding of
America and of the Revolutionary war with England.
Directions: Analyze each of the paintings using the Art Analysis Template.
Freedom of Speech
Details you notice Meaning of detail
How could this image be connected to Colonial American history?
Freedom of Worship
Details you notice Meaning of detail
How could this image be connected to Colonial American history?
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Freedom from Want
Details you notice Meaning of detail
How could this image be connected to Colonial American history?
Freedom from Fear
Details you notice Meaning of detail
How could this image be connected to Colonial American history?
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Analysis:
1. Why do you think Rockwell’s paintings were so successful in encouraging American to support the war effort through patriotism and sale of war bonds?
2. Which of the posters do you believe is most effective in conveying FDR’s Four Freedoms?
Why?
3. Which of the posters do you believe has the best connection to Colonial history? Why?
4. Are the posters propaganda? Why or why not?
5. What do the paintings and their success in helping the war effort reveal about the “power of mass media”? Is this power still applicable today?
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Student Handout D rd
Directions: The documents you will read will give you background information on the radio program you will be supporting. This will help you in writing the letter to FDR and creating a radio broadcast that is as authentic as possible to the actual radio program that John D. Rockefeller 3 rd
envisioned to support the War effort. For each document complete a document analysis.
Document # _____
Document Title (if none then To/From): _______________________
Date: _________________
Summary of Document Connection : How does the document attempt to connect a
WWII to Colonial History?
Document # _____
Document Title (if none then To/From): _______________________
Date: _________________
Summary of Document Connection : How does the document attempt to connect a
WWII to Colonial History?
Reflect: Is this a legitimate use of history?
Reflect: Is this a legitimate use of history?

Document # _____
Document Title (if none then To/From): _______________________
Date: _________________
Summary of Document Connection : How does the document attempt to connect a
WWII to Colonial History?
Document # _____
Document Title (if none then To/From): _______________________
Date: _________________
Summary of Document Connection : How does the document attempt to connect a
WWII to Colonial History?
Document # _____
Document Title (if none then To/From): _______________________
Date: _________________
Summary of Document Connection : How does the document attempt to connect a
WWII to Colonial History?
Reflect: Is this a legitimate use of history?
Reflect: Is this a legitimate use of history?
Reflect: Is this a legitimate use of history?

Excerpt from internal Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. memorandum relating to ideas for how Williamsburg and colonial history could be used in the radio program as propaganda to support the war effort.
Source: Kenneth Chorley to Donald P. Bean, March 27, 1942, Folder 1329, Box 152,
Cultural Interests Series, Record Group 2 0MR, Rockefeller Family Archives,
Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY.
March 27, 1942
To: Mr. Bean [Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.]
From: Kenneth Chorley [Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.]
There is a small advertising agency in Rockefeller Center….whose agent knows
Williamsburg intimately, and ……I discussed the radio program with him……
I then told him this morning about your idea of having Williamsburg bombed, and he became terribly excited about it, and his imagination started to run to the point where he had the first radio program in Hitler’s headquarters in Germany where Hitler was discussing with his staff what should be done to try and break the morale of this country. They discussed the possibility of bombing the industrial centers such as Detroit,
Pittsburgh, etc., but they came to the conclusion that important as that was, it was much more important to try to break the “Spirit of America.” Hitler and his staff then decide that the “Spirit of America” was born at Jamestown, was nourished in the cradle at
Williamsburg, and blossomed to full maturity at Yorktown, and that, therefore, this was the area which they should bomb and destroy in order to break the “Spirit of America.”
Hitler then issues orders to bomb this area…...
The more I think about this situation, the more I’m convinced that your idea of having this program a government program is sound, and I’m sure that we have got hold of an idea now that, if it is handled correctly, the government will jump at. It should, of course, be done wholly and solely on the basis of what contribution Williamsburg can make to the morale and thinking of the country under present conditions.
K. C.
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Excerpt from a memo from Harold Lasswell of The Library of
Congress Experimental Division for the
Study of War Time Communications, Washington, DC.
Source: Harold D. Lasswell to John D. Rockefeller 3rd and Donald Bean, March 26, 1942,
Folder 1329, Box 152, Cultural Interests Series, Record Group 2 OMR,,
Rockefeller Family Archives, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY.
The Library of Congress * Washington Reference Department/
Experimental Division for the Study of War Time Communications
To: John D. Rockefeller 3rd
From: Harold D. Lasswell
Topic: Patriotic Programs Originating at Williamsburg
Can the historic shrines of America, such as Williamsburg, be effectively utilized to quicken public spirit during the war? In a sense the appeal to unity is an appeal to history. By reminding ourselves of what we stood for in the past we can clarify our goals and strengthen our determination in the present.
It may be that a cycle of radio programs should originate at Williamsburg, or it may be that a series of motion picture shorts should use the restoration as means of retelling history with realism.
Whatever the most expedient thing to do, Williamsburg offers many opportunities to dramatize the Four Freedoms stated by the President -- Freedom to Live,
Work, Speak, Worship. These were what the Virginians lived for. The fact that
Williamsburg is in the South -- though not in the Deep South -- gives us an opportunity to remind the nation as a whole of what that part of the country has contributed to the positive values in our national tradition. (By selecting other historic sites throughout the country the contribution of every region can be made vivid and clear.)
………….
…The challenging problem is to reach a broad audience and to leave something worth while behind.
Technical studies of radio have left us certain clues that may be valuable in this connection. How people respond to a program depends in part on the expectations with which they approach it. If they are led to expect a serious statement of public policy from the President or other important official, they resent undignified entertainment. On the other hand, if they expect to be amused they resent the intrusion of serious notes.
Proper expectations can be built up in advance by means of appropriate publicity.
…The proposed cycle of programs can be built up through many available educational, civic and war channels.
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Excerpt from Proposal for Colonial Williamsburg radio program which would use colonial history to support the war effort.
Proposal is unsigned, but was drafted by Donald P. Bean and Kenneth Charley of
Colonial Williamsburg, with input from John D. Rockefeller 3 rd
and others.
This copy was enclosed in Donald P. Bean to Harold D. Lasswell, May 2, 1942.
Source: Folder 1329, Box 152, Cultural Interests Series, Record Group 2 OMR,
Rockefeller Family Archives, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY.
April 30, 1942
A Proposal
The first and foremost problem facing this country today is to win the war as quickly as possible.
The entire man power of the country, all production and every resource -- social, political, economic and educational -- should be devoted to that one aim.
It is important in any all out war effort for the entire population, including uninformed personnel and the civilian population, to understand clearly why we are fighting the war and what we are trying to preserve. To fight because we are attacked is sufficient in the beginning, but as the struggle continues and the war is felt by everyone through a lowering of the standard of living, through increasing numbers of the population enrolled in the armed forces, and growing casualty lists, people, in order to keep up their morale, must have a clear idea of just why we are in this war.
We are in the war to protect and preserve what has been called the American way of life, to preserve the fundamental principles of a free people -- freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly. Not only is it important for men in the armed forces, the civilian adult population and the younger generation, principally represented by high school students, to understand why we are in the war and what we are fighting to preserve, but it is equally important to have the population fully and completely educated up to those principles of freedom when the war is over.
…….
Perhaps many media will have to be used, but certainly radio is one of the most important and most immediate channels for reaching the largest number of citizens at one time. The Army has already recognized the necessity for such a program, through its
Public Relations Department it has been putting on the “Army Hour” each Sunday afternoon and a part of those programs, primarily directed to the civilian population, is devoted to a dramatization of episodes in American history illustrating the principles of freedom. The Special Services Division of the Army recognizes this problem and has already taken steps to try to show the uniformed personnel why we are in this war and what we are fighting for.
The enormous public interest in the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg seems to indicate that interest in our early history may be the most effective approach to the principles involved in the present struggle. The foundations for every principle of freedom and democracy are illustrated in Colonial days. The enormous interest in these
American origins is demonstrated by the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the
Tidewater Peninsula of Virginia where, within a circle fifteen miles in diameter, are
Jamestown Island, where the first permanent settlement and the first assembly of free people was born; Williamsburg, where all of the principles of freedom were developed
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through two centuries into the American way of life as we know it today; and Yorktown, where Englishmen persuaded Englishmen that these institutions should be perpetuated. If the information which has been secured about Americans’ interest in their own history and the research which has been necessary to develop this reconstruction of a truly
Colonial community means anything it is that a series of radio programs, dramatizing this history and the origin of the institutions of free speech, freedom of religious worship and representative government , would be one of the most effective ways of reminding
Americans of the continuity of this struggle for the preservation of those same principles.
……….
Pearl Harbor awakened every American to the sober fact that we could no longer take freedom for granted. Freedom to live, to work, to speak and to worship were not easily won nor will they be easily preserved….failure is unthinkable, for it would mean the end of self-government, the end of individual liberty, and the end of the hope and promise which the democratic way of life now symbolizes for mankind……
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Excerpt from the minutes of a Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. planning meeting in Washington, DC, May 21, 1942 regarding the creation of a radio program.
Source: Folder 1329, Box 152, Cultural Interests Series, Record Group 2 OMR,
Rockefeller Family Archives, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY.
Radio Series: Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.
Conclusions of Washington Meeting, Thursday, May 21, 1942
Object
It was agreed that the main object of this series of thirteen or twenty-six broadcasts should be to help unify the country, recall to it the great basic principles of
America, and inspire it in its war effort and the tasks of reconstruction when peace comes.
Theme
After much discussion, general agreement was reached that the radio programs should all be related, at least in a general way, to the Four Freedoms as a unifying theme.
That is, some reference should be made in each program to one or another of the four basic freedoms -- Freedom to Live, Freedom to Work, Freedom to Worship, Freedom to
Speak -- as interpreted in a broad fashion…
By calling attention to the Four Freedoms as a general theme, the patriotic character of the programs will be emphasized; they will all be brought together on a common basis, though they may be highly diverse in detail; and we shall strike a keynote that will find an instant response everywhere, for the government has done its utmost to instil the idea that our object in the war and the peace is to vindicate these freedoms.
It was decided that no difficulty would be encountered in relating any program to this theme. Freedom to Work, for example, covers everything connected with security.
Freedom to Speak covers freedom of assemblage, freedom of the press, freedom to learn, and similar civil rights.
Subjects
…..
A cursory review of Virginia’s history from 1607 down to the post
Revolutionary period makes it clear that not a single important principle of American liberty or American institutions is without a dramatic illustration in that period. Every great principle -- political, economic, social, cultural—of our national life today was the subject of some struggle in this long period, and was strikingly exemplified. The general…history is familiar to everyone, and most of the great names…Washington,
Jefferson, and Marshall, are household words. The advantages of keeping to this field outweigh ant disadvantages…..
Sponsorship
Considerable discussion took place on the question of sponsorship, for it was felt to be imperative that Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., should have associated with it several organizations of national scope and great prestige. It was agreed that the National
Education Association and the United States Army would be the two most desirable sponsors; and arrangements were made for approaching appropriate officers in both organizations…..
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Excerpt from a letter from JDR 3rd to William S. Paley, of
Columbia Broadcasting Corporation (CBS), regarding support of the radio program .
Source: John D. Rockefeller 3rd to Paley, July 17, 1942, Folder 1329, Box 152,
Cultural Interests Series, Record Group 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives,
Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY.
July 17, 1942
Mr. William S. Paley, President
Columbia Broadcasting System
485 Madison Avenue
New York, N.Y.
Dear Mr. Paley:
When …I first talked with you in March, 1941, about the possibility of Colonial
Williamsburg developing a series of historical radio programs to try to awaken in the citizens of this country a consciousness of their own traditions, we thought that was an important job.
However, since that time this country has gone to war and the situation is very different from that which existed on the day of we had the enjoyable luncheon with you.
Williamsburg and the Restoration have gone on a war basis. Some two months ago the commanding officer of Fort Eustis, one of the largest trainee centers in this section of the country, made Williamsburg a part of the official training program. Over 300 soldiers are brought to
Williamsburg each day, lectures are made by our staff members, motion pictures are shown and the men are taken on a tour of the city. This program has created a great deal of interest and partially out of the program has grown an idea which we have been working on for some time now and which I should like to present to you.
In Williamsburg every one of the freedoms for which the Allied Nations are now fighting had their birth and were fought for…. We have been conferring with the National
Education Association and the Public Relations Department of the United States Army. Both of these groups feel that there is a very strong need for arousing the entire country -- citizens generally, school children and the men in the armed forces -- to a new and larger sense of why we are in this war and what we are fighting for.
With that thought in mind, sometime ago we started working on a new series of radio programs which might be placed under a title such as “The Fight for Freedom.” We propose to do for all of the American traditions what has been done in the sample program on Bacon’s
Rebellion which is now in your program department….
We should like very much to discuss with you the feasibility of an initial series of thirteen programs for release beginning the first week in October. We have the complete cooperation of the National Education Association and at a conference in Washington yesterday, the United States Army unofficially indicated their full approval and cooperation, and intimated that official action to our invitation would follow…..
Sincerely yours,
John D. Rockefeller 3rd
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Student Handout E
Source: Folder 1329, Box 152, Cultural Interests Series, Record Group 2 OMR,
Modeled on a sample script, March 27, 1942.
Rockefeller Family Archives, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, NY
Sample Introduction
Voice: This is -- America!
(In the background the strains of the Star Spangled Banner -- growing louder -- louder -- LOUDER)
(music fades)
Voice: This is a program of the people and for the people of America. Any resemblance – in characters and situations -- to actual persons and events is intentional and premeditated. Our purpose is bringing you this half hour torn from the pages of history is that you might have a clearer concept of the rights, the ideals and the principles which today we are determined to preserve. You -- serving in the armed forces, You -- working in the factories, and You -- on the home front investing your hard earned dollars in Defense bonds and stamps -- This is what you are defending -- This is what you are buying --- THIS IS -- AMERICA! (music wells up – and as the last strains of The Star Spangled Banner fade)
Voice: I am the voice of the Virginia Gazette -- published in the year ….in
Williamsburg, Virginia. On my pages, now yellowed with age, is written the history of a people, the saga of America. I report the events of the times as they happen, and, in my columns, I recall and pay tribute to events that transpired before my voice was first heard. Among my editorials is one honoring …. on significant events of early American history such as….
FIT YOUR IDEAS HERE
Music
(Explanation of first Colonial event and connection to events and war effort here. Also connection to FDR’s Four Freedom)
Middle Commercial halfway through program – inspiring speedier production and purchase of defense bonds and stamps.
(Explanation of second Colonial event and connection to events and war effort here. Also connection to FDR’s Four Freedom)
Final Commercial
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